Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life

Prior research has suggested religious participation can promote marital satisfaction and stability. However, current literature has mainly focused on early life divorce, and used cross-sectional data, leaving open the question of the directionality of effects. We evaluated the prospective associations between service attendance and marital stability in mid and late life considering either 1) divorce or separation; or 2) remarriage, as separate outcomes. Data were drawn from the Nurses’ Health Study, a large prospective cohort study that consisted of US female nurses in their 50s at study enrollment, with repeated measures of service attendance and marital status over 14 years of follow-up from 1996–2010. During follow up, among 66,444 initially married nurses who were mainly Christians, frequent service attendance was associated with 50% lower risk of divorce (95% CI: 32%, 63%), and 52% lower risk of either divorce or separation (95%CI: 37%, 63%). Among initially divorced or separated women, frequent service attendance was not associated with subsequent likelihood of remarriage; however, among widowed women, women who attended services frequently had 49% increased likelihood of remarriage (95% CI: 13%, 97%) compared to those women who did not. The study provides evidence that in this cohort of US nurses, frequent service attendance is associated with lower risk of becoming divorced in mid- and late- life, and increased likelihood of remarriage among widowed nurses, but not among divorced or separated nurses.

既往研究表明，宗教参与可提升婚姻满意度与婚姻稳定性。然而，现有文献多聚焦于早年离婚事件，且采用横断面数据（cross-sectional data），尚未明确效应的作用方向。
本研究针对中老年群体，分别以1）离婚或分居、2）再婚作为独立结局指标，评估宗教礼拜出勤与婚姻稳定性之间的前瞻性关联。研究数据来源于护士健康研究（Nurses’ Health Study）——一项大型前瞻性队列研究（prospective cohort study），入组对象为美国50岁左右的女性护士，在1996年至2010年共计14年的随访周期内，对礼拜出勤情况与婚姻状态进行了重复测量。
随访期间，在66444名初始已婚且以基督教徒为主的护士中，高频次礼拜出勤与50%的离婚风险降低相关（95%置信区间（95% CI）：32%至63%），与离婚或分居风险降低52%相关（95%置信区间（95% CI）：37%至63%）。在初始离婚或分居的女性中，高频次礼拜出勤与后续再婚概率无显著关联；但在丧偶女性中，高频次礼拜出勤者的再婚概率较未出勤者升高49%（95%置信区间（95% CI）：13%至97%）。
本研究证实，在该美国护士队列中，高频次礼拜出勤与中老年群体更低的离婚风险相关，同时可提升丧偶护士的再婚概率，但对离婚或分居群体的再婚无显著影响。